A Perfect World
Columbia/Red Decibel, 1995
Spartan, 2025 reissue
Despite my begrudging acceptance of Record Store Day actually being Record Store Days, occurring more than once a year, and worse, the second occurrance being on that capitalist consumer frenzy known as “Black Friday”, I can’t help but feel giddy excitement for it this year. While 99% of RSD releases can be easily placed in the “unneccessary” column, this vinyl reissue of S2R’s sophomore album coming out for this year’s Black Friday RSD is not only overdue, it’s a fantastic bargain as original copies of the scarce vinyl release will currently set you back somewhere around $50-$200. As someone who’s let this one slip through their hands a number of times and watch the price for a decent used copy climb higher and higher, this is a very necessary RSD release. Plus, this reissue has been remastered by guitarist Duane Trower at Weights & Measures Soundlab to deliver all the beefy heft and noise-addled texture that made this one of Kansas City’s premiere noise rock exports.
For those unfamiliar, Season to Risk emerged right about the time that the Nirvana-fueled major label signing frenzy scooped up underground rock in search of the next big thing. The band released a couple singles (one including artwork by serial killer John Wayne Gacy), their self-titled debut, and this, their second long player, on Columbia Record’s Red Decibel imprint. Their second single “Mine Eyes” even had some heavy commercial radio airplay here in the Kansas City area, earning them a regional and cult following that continues to this day. Surprisingly, they were even featured in the 1995 cult movie Strange Days, but unsurprisingly, their track was cut from the soundtrack for being “too noisy” — a badge of honor that probably prevented the spread of their infectious and tuneful brand of gnarled noise rock to the masses, but cemented their status as heroes among the tinnitus-afflicted connoiseseurs of such music.
A Perfect World formed a bridge from their somewhat more accessible debut album and the more experimental weirdo rumble found on their third album from the indie Thick Records label, Men Are Monkeys, Robots Win. The exceptionally tight Shiner rhythm section tears shit up on this record, featuring Paul Malinowski’s overdriven snaking basslines on top of Jason Gerken’s structurally-sound percussion, building the perfect foundation for Duane Trower’s inverted tension/release guitar hooks and Steve Tulipana’s possessed, effects-ladled vocals and electronics. Captured in the same dank underground (literally) BC Studio where Martin Bisi also recorded classic records by Cop Shoot Cop, Sonic Youth, Swans, and Unsane, A Perfect World showed that S2R’s allegiances went deeper underground than most major label bands would dare, giving them the indie cred that’s kept their cult status intact along with a run of quality output. This remastered version keeps all the beefy heft of the original mix while also bringing out some of the sonic texture that’s always made S2R great.
Celebrate Record Store Day, late-stage capitalism, and this hard-to-find vinyl gem this Thanksgiving season, as the band kicks off a nine date tour of the western U.S. on Black Friday. Find tour dates and more at the Spartan Records website.